As previously reported, Eddie Van Halen and his son, VAN HALEN bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, gave a rare joint interview to USA Today on June 13 in which they discussed the reason for the band canceled more than 30 summer tour dates following a June 26 show in New Orleans. Eddie explained, “We bit off more than we could chew. This record took a lot out of us. And we went on tour earlier than we wanted to so we could play Madison Square Garden (in March, before a renovation), and that threw the schedule out of whack.”

Eddie added that “a lot of the canceled dates were in cities we already played,” but promised that VAN HALEN will return to U.S. stages later on: “In November, we’ll hit Japan, and in the New Year, we’ll possibly do something special, but I can’t talk about it.”

When the canceled shows were announced, rumors originally began circulating that Eddie and singer David Lee Roth were feuding again. But Eddie denied that, saying, “Dave‘s the same as he’s always been, funny, witty. Sometimes I can only take that in small doses, because he just goes on and on.”

Wolfgang added, “He’s like the Energizer Bunny — wind it up and see what happens,” while his father said, “But Dave always lands on his feet.”

Roth himself posted a video message online explaining the scrapped dates, saying that “the band is getting along famously, better than we have in quite some time . . . (but) if we continue past July 4 and all the way into Australia and Japan then we’re asking for the robot zombie tour.”

VAN HALEN is touring behind “A Different Kind Of Truth”, its first album in 14 years and first with Roth since 1984.